Yes, that’s right, the astute amongst you will have guessed that I am talking of Rage Against The Machine’s possibility of a Christmas number one. Oh the irony.

Rage are, and will always be, one of my favourite bands. Their angsty sound drew me in as a teenager and as I grew older I became aware of their political messages. Last year I saw their performance at Reading, which will undoubtedly go down in the annals of rock history.

Rage enter the stage at Reading 2008

Rage guitarist, Tom Morello, sent out a message this week to the British public on his Twitter feed:

“England! Now is your time.”

Morello is a Harvard graduate who has appeared on Star Trek, been kicked out of the New York stock exchange, and been removed from a 2008 Republican National Convention whilst filming a music video in protest against the party. I am proud to support any cause he stands for.

But now I feel as though Rage have been hi-jacked somewhat by a group of individuals who have found a rather misguided direction for their anger towards the current climate of popular music. A Facebook group has been gaining momentum for a number of weeks, with the intention to prevent X Factor winner Joe McElderry from reaching christmas number one, replacing it instead with our beloved Rage. Of course I bought my copy of Killing in the Name of this week, but I didn’t feel as if I were ‘sticking it to the man’ or claiming a victory for the proletariat. I felt like a white, middle class male who could be helping any number of suffering individuals in the world with the money it cost me to buy the single. I could even have supported an unsigned band and bought a self-released single.

This blog by NME writer Luke Lewis goes some way in describing my feelings:

“After all, there’s no better way to stick it to The Man than by swelling the coffers of a major label rock act who’ve sold over 20 million albums worldwide.”

Rage are signed to Epic records, who happen to be a sub-division of Sony, who happen to own the rights to The Climb, the song being covered by X-Factor winner Joe McElderry, who happens to be signed to Simon Cowell’s label Syco, who happen to be owned by Sony.

This paradoxical circle irks me, but not almost as much as the thousands of people on the Facebook group who watch X Factor regularly and then complain about its chokehold on the popular music charts. Where do these people get off on being so hypocritical? I find it tragic how a bunch of minimally talented singers are thrusted into the limelight each year by Simon Cowell and his cronies, only to be promoted as ‘artists’ who are then discussed as if beloved household pets by brain-dead followers on social networking sites.

Even worse are those who watch X Factor under the pretence that they are watching it ‘ironically’. Many of these people happen to be friends of mine and are now members of the Rage group on Facebook. This trend seems to be popular amongst students.

I feel like a child who has had his teddy bear handed over to a charity shop, I haven’t quite outgrown it and I want it back, even if somebody else could use it. Rage is my teddy bear, and the Farmville addicted public of Facebook have stolen it. I want it back. The whole campaign seems to be entirely pointless anyway.

This article in the Telegraph predicts that Joe McElderry will sail to victory in the singles chart this week once he releases The Climb on CD. There are certainly thousands more talented singers in the UK than Joe McElderry, and I agree with the plight against the X Factor. However, the best way around this problem is to support new bands, unsigned bands, local bands, or any band that doesn’t have major financial backing.

Rage, despite their anti-hegemonic stance, are very rich men who neither need or will benefit from our hard earned money. It’s great that we are sending a message to Simon Cowell, but as long as people watch his show and buy his records he will continue to make awful TV programmes such as X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.

Stop watching them, stop buying the songs, and make a real statement. If Marx or Orwell were alive I’m sure they’d have something powerful and memorable to say on the matter. Unfortunately they aren’t so we will have to imagine it’d be something like this:

“He who controls the charts, controls the future. He who controls Sony, controls the charts.”

This concerns two major debates which are currently making headlines. One, the teachers’ vote to boycott SATs exams, the other is Lord Mandelson’s plans for more inclusive universities. Although not directly linked, these two stories show the struggle between the teachers, who constantly witness the fundamental failings of the state school curriculum, and the government, the majority of whom weren’t even educated by the state.

I can recall with some detail the final year of my primary education. I often had to attend extra-curricular maths classes and was made to feel like somewhat of a ‘dud’ throughout school. No matter how well I answered questions I was always pulled up on my scruffy and barely legible handwriting. It was only 8 years later I read a study which confirmed a correlation between bad handwriting and a high IQ. In my fifth year (at the age of nine) I wrote a small book, 56 pages long, fuelled by my obsession with dinosaurs and detectives. It was entitled “Dan the Dino Detective” and if published would have undoubtedly won the Man Booker Prize.

I handed a photocopy of the story to my teacher and she told me she thought it was excellent, she then phoned my parents to arrange a meeting about my lack of focus and concentration in the classroom… my back still hurts from the knife wound.

I continued through to my final year of primary school, totally uninterested in anything other than music, writing, and French lessons. In the practice SATs papers I achieved low grades in Maths in Science whilst achieving the highest in English. My teacher, noticing this problem, went out of her way to help me improve my grade by spending extra time with those who were struggling and… No, I’m lying. My teacher went on helping the smart kids whilst I spent my weekends learning scientific facts and solving mathematical problems that I would never use again.

Eventually I managed level 5 in all of the core subjects and in a surprising reversal of fortunes went on to be perceived as the top stream under achiever throughout secondary school.

The fact is that some children are just more interested (and talented) in areas such as music, art, languages, and history than they are  in science or maths. Recognising this fact, teachers in the UK have now voted to boycott SATs this summer and focus on a wider range of subjects.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, was quoted in The Guardian as saying:

“Schools are continuing to teach to the tests and the upshot is that pupils simply don’t get the broad and balanced curriculum they need.”

This has come with some objection from education ministers and is perhaps not the most constructive way to education reform, but it is direct and sends a message. The message being “If Royal Mail can do it, then so can we.” However, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming chaos, Lord Mandelson has published a document highlighting that there needs to be a bigger focus on allowing more places for working class students who wish to go into science and engineering.

So essentially, whilst the country’s teachers are telling us that children are not responding well to the demands of core subjects such as science and maths, Lord Mandelson has come up with the brilliant plan of leading these children away from bachelor of arts and into degrees that involve the use of science and maths. His reasoning is that these subjects lead directly into high paid jobs in the respective industries, seemingly suggesting that social science degrees do not reap enough financial reward.

Wes Streeting, President of the National Union of Students said:

“It’s worrying if we send a message to students that the only courses that are worth pursuing are the ones that give financial rewards later on or have an economic utility.”

By sending this message to children we are also telling them that the subjects which teachers complain are not getting enough coverage, such as arts and history, are actually not worth studying. Rather than improve students’ proficiency in one or two core areas we should be looking to give children the opportunity to study a wide range of topics at a decent depth.

In Sweden children are given the chance to discuss and formulate their own personalised curriculum with their teachers, they are not tested on their aptitude until the age of 14. This is similar to the German education system, where at the age of 16 students choose a number of ‘Abitur’ subjects which are similar to A levels. However, instead of choosing four specialised subjects, students choose a minimum of eight, therefore giving them a wider array of degree options when applying for university.

We should take a lead from these education systems and allow children to study areas of interest in more depth. Core subjects are undoubtedly important for basic skills, but a child who achieves an A at GCSE in music or a language should not be stopped from progressing in their education because they did not achieve a C in maths or science.

Science is for geeks anyway…

This time Boris has outdone himself, the Conservative Mayor has turned vigilante and rescued a frightened member of the public from a gang of violent youths. Franny Armstrong was walking through the borough of Camden when she was approached by three youths. At first Franny said “it was quite funny, because they were only about 12. Then I saw that one of them had an iron bar in her hand. It was more than a metre long. It was as big as her.”

Franny noticed Boris cycling towards her and called out for help, upon noticing that they were up against the mighty Mayor of London the children fled immediately (most likely crying for their mothers, or even more likely moving onto their next victim). The story doesn’t end here, not content with merely saving the frightened Ms Armstrong, Boris then cycled after the young rapscallions on his infamous bicycle. Clutching the iron rod that the children had dropped, Boris pedalled towards them shouting “Oiks, oiks.” (Etonion banter for working class scum).

Boris returned to the scene moments later to comfort the rather shaken Ms Armstrong, who admitted to the world’s media that she had voted for Ken Livingstone and did not agree with Johnson’s politics. Armstrong is in the fact the director of independent film The Age of Stupid and founder of the 10:10 campaign which encourages local businesses to cut 10% of carbon emissions by 2010.

On her Twitter feed Armstrong claimed that she asked Boris to join the 10:10 scheme and that he agreed. She also described her attackers as ‘Feral Kids’ and praised the Mayor’s intervention.

Boris wrote to Franny via Twitter and said he was pleased to have met her, but now he finds himself in the uneasy position of having publicly agreed to cut his emissions by 10%. Franny sounds like a great person, really, she has directed a film aimed at opening the country’s eyes to the terror of climate change. It does the job better than those ridiculous government adverts about the “happy ending”. But honestly, I don’t recall watching any superhero movies in which Batman turned up in his Batmobile and saved a defenceless woman, only to be forced to agree to cut his carbon emissions.

Wonder Woman was never asked to switch her invisible plane to eco fuel after saving the USA from the clutches of the Nazis. I should know, I have the first season DVD box set.

I hope that Boris does cut his emissions by 10%, it may provide an example to his peers. I think he also deserves a great degree of praise for doing something which most politicians wouldn’t dream of. This may just seem like a funny story for the press’ middle pages, but Boris risked a hell of a lot in helping Ms Armstrong. Any physical contact with the hooded girls would have undoubtedly resulted in some damaging accusations flying his way, especially with an iron bar in play.

However, the sheer physical presence of the bike mounted Mayor was enough to scare the future convicts away from the scene, and this remains a perfect piece of PR for Mr Johnson.

]]> http://delarich.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/quick-to-the-borismobile/feed/ 2 richbeech http://delarich.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/the-passive-journalist/ http://delarich.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/the-passive-journalist/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:01:29 +0000 richbeech http://delarich.wordpress.com/?p=11 ]]> JOMEC students will remember with (varying) fondness the early morning lectures of one Bob Franklin. Those 10AM starts were always a paradoxical affair for myself, Bob’s predictions of impending doom for the journalism industry were often outweighed by his somewhat jovial and reassuring delivery. However, nagging questions were raised in my mind. Is journalism the right path for me? Does it make financial sense? Should I forget about ethics and console myself to a life of ‘Churnalism’ and ‘Newsak’? Those questions were once again bought to the forefront of my mind whilst reading O’Neil and O’Connor’s’ The Passive Journalist (2008).

By using empirical research methods, O’Neil and O’Connor study trending patterns in the use of primary and secondary sources in local newspapers. Statistically the journal article will make hard reading for any aspiring journalist. Contrary to media representations of local news, such as the bustling and powerful newsroom of The Wire‘s local news outlet The Baltimore Sun, journalists at four West Midlands newspaper use very few sources. An average of over 76% per cent of articles printed in The Halifax Courier, The Huddersfield Examiner, The Bradford Telegraph and Argus, and The Yorkshire Evening Post only use one source. These sources are often from Council representatives or Police spokesmen/women.

The consequences and effects of this trend are far from certain, without studying each article individually it is not possible to determine whether these articles would have warranted or benefited from the use of a secondary source. However if a journalist’s role is to provide an impartial and objective account of a news story then it would be fair to assume that more than one source per article is necessary. But the journalist’s job is much more than this. A Pullitzer prize has never been awarded for the regurgitation of a press release or a politician’s soundbite. The role of the journalist is to find the news and bring it to the public’s attention.

The statistics in The Passive Journalist prove that this is becoming increasingly difficult for staff at local newspapers. Due to financial constraints in the newsroom, journalists find themselves forced to provide a greater quantity of news rather than focus on its quality. Bob Franklin calls this the McDonaldization of news, a process which privileges efficient light hearted news for consumption by a mass audience.

Andrew Marr has also commented on this trend, labelling it ‘bite-size McNugget journalism’. Contrary to this label, The Bath Chronicle (my hometown’s local paper) recently announced it is to become a weekly paper instead of a daily. Re-branded with the slogan “The Bath Chronicle – Not Your Everyday Local Newspaper”, The Chronicle has unfortunately laid off staff and suffered budget cuts. In my humble opinion the newspaper now provides stories with much more depth and relevance to the public. But at what cost? However detailed and investigative the newspaper’s reports seem to be on the surface, they are delivered to the public just once a week. News may be irrelevant or may even have seen new developments by the time it is digested by the reader.

Journalists seem to be trapped within a continuing cycle. This cycle is caused by the need to generate maximum profit levels from the struggling industry of local journalism. Journalists therefore have less time to interact with the public whilst working on multiple stories for strict deadlines. The public then feel disengaged from their local news and this feeling is reflected by a drop in circulation figures, consequently forcing editors to demand more of their reporters and therefore completing the cycle.

O’Connor and O’Neill conclude with this observation:

“Unless the local press improves standards of journalism, the health of local papers will continue to decline.”

This is a stark warning against the declining culture of the newsroom, and a grim reminder to students that journalism may not the most stable of career choices. However, the decline of local news comes at a time when the Web 2.0 revolution allows any writer to communicate with a potentially global audience, free from the constraints of corporate endorsement or ownership agendas. Perhaps online journalism is the much needed ray of light for young journalists, but even this will assist the decline of local news as more people look for faster, cheaper and more convenient ways to access the news.

The journal article can be accessed here: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/17512780802281248

Today the Daily Mail has plummeted head first into an all time low. Jan Moir, a columnist on the Daily Mail’s ‘FeMail’ section, has managed to offend men and women all over the world in an article entitled ‘A Strange, Lonely and Troubling Death…’

http://tinyurl.com/yl5wgwt

The implications of Moir’s article are alarming. Discussing the late Stephen Gately, Moir acknowledges the fact that Spanish forensic officers have put his death down to natural causes:

“All the official reports point to a natural death, with no suspicious circumstances”

However, as a journalist with no experience in forensic science or criminology, Moir is obviously better placed to decide upon the real circumstances of Gately’s death:

“The sugar coating on this fatality is so saccharine-thick that it obscures whatever bitter truth lies beneath. Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.”

I’m glad that it’s all been cleared up now, obviously those pesky Spanish police officers must have got it completely wrong. Gately must have died as a result of some sinister activity which was obviously linked to his homosexuality. Or perhaps Jan Moir’s speculative article is just an attack on all gay and lesbian people around the world who find themselves daily marginalised in our media as if they were commiting a crime? Stephen Fry and Derren Brown have already noted their disgust at the article on their respective Twitter accounts, an act which will have gone some way into making the words ‘Jan Moir’ a top trending topic on the networking site.

Whilst many blogs have focused on the homophobic overtones of The Daily Mail’s latest incident of foot in mouth, there is also the issue of xenophobia. The lack of faith or trust in Spanish authorities is laughable, as an EU state Spain is forced to operate under the same regulations as our own police service. These regulations are in place to ensure the public have access to a certain degree of information involving such cases, furthermore, if the cause of Gately’s death was in any way nefarious then the police would have a duty to investigate the matter further.

The article finishes with yet another sweeping generalisation about an entire group of individuals:

“After a night of clubbing, Cowles and Gately took a young Bulgarian man back to their apartment. It is not disrespectful to assume that a game of canasta with 25-year-old Georgi Dochev was not what was on the cards.”

Actually, it is disrespectful to assume that any sexual activity may have occured during this night. It is highly disrespectful to infer that all homosexual men are promiscuous partakers in seedy menage-a-trois. In doing this Jan Moir has broken item 1, 3, 5, and 12 of the Press Complaints Commision Code. Today the PCC’s website has gone offline due to the sheer volume of complaints flooding in from all over the country. This will be a tough mess for The Daily Mail to sweep under the carpet, that is if there is any space left